This disclosure relates generally to online systems, and more specifically to presenting content to an online system user.
An online system, such as a social networking system, allows its users to connect to and to communicate with other users of the online system. Users may create profiles on an online system that are tied to their identities and include information about the users, such as interests and demographic information. The users may be individuals or entities such as corporations or charities. Online systems allow users to easily communicate information and share content with other online system users by providing organic content on an online system for presentation to other users. Organic content posted on an online system includes declarative information provided by a user, such as stories, status updates, and location check-ins, as well as photos, videos, and any other information a user wishes to share with additional users of the online system. An online system may also generate organic content for presentation to a user, such as content describing actions taken by other users on the online system connected to the user.
Additionally, publishing users, such as businesses, may sponsor presentation of content items (“sponsored content”) via an online system to gain public attention for the publishing user's products or services or to persuade online system users to take an action regarding the publishing user's products or services. Many online systems receive compensation from a publishing user for presenting online system users with certain types of sponsored content items provided by the publishing user. Frequently, online systems charge a publishing user for each presentation of sponsored content to an online system user (e.g., for each “impression” of sponsored content) or for each interaction with sponsored content by an online system user. For example, an online system receives compensation from a publishing user each time a content item provided by the publishing user is displayed to a user on the online system or each time a user is presented with a content item provided by the publishing user via the online system and the user interacts with the content item (e.g., clicks on a link included in the content item) or performs another action after being presented with the content item.
Online systems commonly present a user with feeds of content that include both sponsored and organic content selected for presentation to a user by the online system based on measures of relevance to the user. For example, an online system presents a user with a newsfeed that includes organic content describing actions taken by other users connected to the user on the online system and sponsored content selected for the user based on declared interests of the user. However, in certain circumstances, presenting sponsored and organic content together in the same feed of content may impair a user's experience with the feed, which reduces the likelihood of the user interacting with the feed or with individual content items presented in the feed. For example, placing multiple sponsored content items in positions of a feed that are within a threshold distance of each other may frustrate a user primarily interested in viewing organic content items in the feed.
To encourage user interaction with presented content, online systems commonly apply policy rules regulating presentation of sponsored content to their users. For example, policies applied by an online system prevent presentation of sponsored content in certain positions in a feed of content to prevent a user from becoming overwhelmed with the sponsored content. However, conventional methods for online systems to apply policies do not account for certain circumstances where it may be advantageous to present sponsored content to a user in positions of a feed of content that would violate a policy applied by the online system. For example, conventional application of policies by an online system prevent presentation of sponsored content in positions of a feed presented to a user that would violate a policy of the online system even when presenting the sponsored content in the positions would increase a likelihood of the user interacting with the feed. As a result, conventional application of policies regulating presentation of sponsored content to online system users may reduce the likelihood of a user interacting with a feed of content or with individual content items presented in a feed of content in some circumstances.